The “Why” and “How” of Narcissism: A Process Model of Narcissistic Status Pursuit

Abstract

We propose a self-regulation model of grandiose narcissism. This model illustrates an interconnected set of processes through which narcissists (i.e., individuals with relatively high levels of grandiose narcissism) pursue social status in their moment-by-moment transactions with their environments. The model shows that narcissists select situations that afford status. Narcissists vigilantly attend to cues related to the status they and others have in these situations and, on the basis of these perceived cues, appraise whether they can elevate their status or reduce the status of others. Narcissists engage in self-promotion (admiration pathway) or other-derogation (rivalry pathway) in accordance with these appraisals. Each pathway has unique consequences for how narcissists are perceived by others, thus shaping their social status over time. The model demonstrates how narcissism manifests itself as a stable and consistent cluster of behaviors in pursuit of social status and how it develops and maintains itself over time. More broadly, the model might offer useful insights for future process models of other personality traits.

Narcissism and mate retention behaviors: What strategies do narcissistic individuals use to maintain their romantic relationships?

“…It has recently been argued that the pursuit of social status may play an even more fundamental role in the understanding of narcissism than had been previously recognized (Grapsas et al, 2020;Zeigler-Hill et al, 2018, 2019. As a result, it is important to consider how narcissistic personality features may shape the strategies that are employed to attain status and whether these strategies may have implications for the behaviors that are used to maintain romantic relationships.…”

What You Get is What You See: Other-Rated but not Self-Rated Leaders’ Narcissistic Rivalry Affects Followers Negatively

“…As narcissists seldom see reasons to change unless circumstances challenge or threaten their grandiose self-views (Brunell and Campbell 2011), it may be important to alert them to the negative impact their behavior has on their reputation (e.g., through decreasing follower well-being and performance). Seeing that by hurting others, they eventually hurt their own standing in an organization could make behavioral change self-relevant for leaders high in narcissistic rivalry, as such positive changes could boost their status and thus foster their grandiose self-views (Grapsas et al 2019). Training or coaching that builds on multisource feedback and thus raises narcissistic leaders' awareness of the contrast between how they see themselves and how colleagues, followers, supervisors, and clients perceive them and that focuses on practicing positive leadership skills could also be helpful here.…”

A multidimensional model of collective narcissism

“…Finally, recently developed models of individual narcissism have moved from the notion that narcissism is best viewed and measured as a collection of “core features” (e.g., APA, 2000) to a more functional, processing model of narcissism. The Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ; Back et al, 2013), for instance, presents a process model of narcissism in which narcissists maintain a grandiose sense of self through two interrelated processes aimed at seeking social status: admiration‐seeking and rivalry (Grapsas, Brummelman, Back, & Denissen, 2020). The MMCN factors, although derived from a “core features” approach, fit well with this alternative approach, such that the MMCN‐D/A and MMCN‐admiration subscales align with (and are different aspects of) the assertive self‐enhancement processes that fuel admiration‐seeking, and the MMCN‐E/E and MMCN‐apathy subscales align with (and are different aspects of) the antagonistic processes common to rivalry.…”